the lost cosmonaut
by odstpilot
Summary: Summary: while working as a test pilot for the Osean/EASA organization, Trigger encounters what might be the first lost Cosmonaut from Yuktobania.


Ch 1

In Emmeria, two men sitting next to a radio donning headsets were picking up communications coming from Yuktobania.

"Hey, listen to this."

"No! Now no-one will ever know! No-one will ever know!" a female voice shouted, followed by sobbing.

Both men listened closely for more communications, but found nothing.

_Union of Yuktobanian Republics_

_Baikonur launch site_

_1960_

_3 hours ago_

Olga Kaganovich was approached by Sergei Korolev, who shook her hand.

"This will be the first of many successful manned flights. What a truly historic monument." Korolev said.

"I'll make the Union proud, Mr Korolev." she said, saluting him.

She stood in the elevator, and saw the awesome Soyuz rocket up close. The Oseans couldn't even make their rocketry, and the technology in its construction was more guarded and secret than even their atomic bomb programs.

Entering the capsule, the door was closed and she began the final checklist. The engines were activated, and she watched herself climb up past the clouds and into space.

"Control, it's beautiful." she said, seeing the earth below her.

Olga sent scanned data back to command, maneuvering her spacecraft as commanded by those on the ground. Not only would she be the first person in space, she was also the first person to fly a capsule in space, albeit with limited control. But even this limited flight data and experience would provide valuable intel for future flights.

"You should be looking down at Osea. Confirm, Ceder." the control tower said.

Olga looked down towards the planet, and saw the country of Osea.

"Ceder confirms. I'm looking down at Osea." she said, with pride in her voice.

"Good. Enjoy the sights." the control responded.

On the ground, Korolev looked at the instruments and control panels that monitored the flight. Olga was now on the night-time half of the planet, communications now cut. Anything could be happening and they wouldn't know until they were in communication with the pod again.

"Control, i'm seeing something. An unknown object." she said.

"Ceder, repeat!" Korolev exclaimed.

"I repeat, i'm seeing an unknown object on an intercept course. Will attempt to get closer." she said.

"Proceed with caution." Korolev advised.

Upon getting closer with the object, she looked with amazement and reported her findings.

"I'm seeing a spaceship! No, it's a satellite! Control, i think i've encountered one of our satellites. This could be one of the Sputnik sats." she said.

Korolev only raised his eyebrow; there was no Sputnik satellite on her planned route. What did she find?

When Olga got closer, she was stunned to see it was larger than a Sputnik sat.

"Control, it's one of ours, but it's larger than i expected. Approaching visual range." she said; Korolev didn't respond.

"It has a reflective surface, with a spherical shape." she said, looking closer. When both craft came closer, she gave more details.

"I'm seeing the writing on the side. It says C...Y...R. What the… it's definitely ours!" she exclaimed.

"Damnit." Korolev muttered under his breath.

"I'm seeing heavy damage, like a meteor hit it, or something. How it's still in one piece…" she trailed off.

Yet something else bothered her. While it held a similar shape to her own craft, it was also smaller. Her curiosity would be answered when she looked inside the damaged module. To her horror, she saw a young child inside the craft, the body torn to pieces from the strike.

"Oh my god! There's a child inside! You sent a child!? How could you do such a thing!?" she angrily screamed.

"We had no choice." one of the officers on the ground said.

"We must let everyone know. The world has to know!" she said.

On the ground, Korolev and the other scientists and officers made their grim decision.

"Do it." Korolev said, popping a pill in his mouth.

Olga watched as her capsule suddenly jolted and moved away from the earth.

"What are you doing?" she asked, fearful.

"We're sorry. You served the motherland well." one of the officers said.

Olga looked at the new altitude and the terror of her situation came in. There was no way she was able to return to the earth, not in the immediate future.

"This can't be happening! No! Now no-one will ever know! No-one will ever know!" she cried out to the cold and uncaring stars.

…

_2019_

_Space Elevator, Erusea_

Trigger looked at the new fighter he was supposed to be flying in. It was the ADF-13, modeled exactly after the Morgan.

"Leave it to the Yukes to make a half fighter half space plane." he mused as he climbed into the cockpit.

"Trigger, this is Dr Schroeder. You'll be launching momentarily. Ascend to high altitude and await further instructions."

"Copy that. Launching in 3, 2, 1." Trigger said, pushing the accelerator forward.

The fighter was launched up the space elevator via the rails, and Trigger decoupled from the rails when he gained enough speed. Activating the engines, he flew as high as he could and saw another spacecraft above him.

"Strider 1, this is Kei Nagase. I'll be your handler for this mission. Your aircraft is capable of spaceflight so come on up." she said.

Taking a deep breath, Trigger yanks the stick in his gut and ascends into low earth orbit. Flying in formation with the Osean spacecraft, he waggles his wings.

"Strider 1, is everything okay with your bird?" Nagase asked.

"All systems are go. I still can't belive i'm flying up here." he said to the astronaut.

"This is so familiar. Remember the old space race between Yuktobania and Osea?" she asked.

"I remember. The Oseans were technology based, while the Yukes were hardware based. One side had all the shiney tech, but your spacecraft were as durable as wet paper. The Yukes on the other hand, made their spacecraft as durable as a fucking tank. I wouldn't be surprised if there were Yuke satellites and spacecraft that survived the kessler syndrome." Trigger said.

"And the spacecraft both of us are flying in is the pinnacle of evolution from both nations. Lovely." Nagase sarcastically said.

"I'm picking up something on radar." Trigger said, moving ahead to intercept.

"What is it?" Nagase asked.

"It has a shiny reflective surface. It looks like an old space module." Trigger said.

Getting closer, Trigger saw letters painted on the capsule and its shape.

"Nagase, i think this is a Yuke module." he said.

"We're looking at it to. The size suggests it was used to carry a human." she replied.

Trigger came closer and flew next to the capsule. He intently looked at it, wondering what was in there.

"Nagase, this is Strider 1. I'll be leaving my bird and heading to dock with the capsule. Confirm." he said.

"Confirmed. Strider 1, you are cleared for spacewalk. Good luck." she said.

Trigger depressurized the cockpit and opened the canopy. With his body secured to his plane, he leapt from the safety of his aircraft and headed to the Yuke capsule.

"So this is how it feels like." he said, as he grabbed the capsule with his hands. Crawling on all fours, Trigger found himself looking into the window.

"The window is fogged up. I can't see inside. I'll attempt to get the hatch open." he said, grabbing the handle.

"Trigger, you may not like what you find." Nagase warned.

"I'll be find, Nagase. Don't worry." he replied.

Pulling with all his strength, he is surprised to see the hatch open with ease. Pulling out his flashlight, he looks inside and freezes.

"Strider 1, come in! Strider 1, what do you see?" Nagase asked.

"Nagase… this is Strider 1. I'm seeing a dead human sitting inside the cockpit." Trigger said. He walked inside the cockpit and saw the dead pilot. The visor of the helmet prevented him from seeing the face of the poor bastard, which only made it more unnerving. For all he knew, it was an alien that was wearing the suit. Putting his hand on the visor, he moved it and saw a woman's face. It wasn't the first time he had seen a dead body with his own eyes.

"Strider 1, what is it?" Nagase asked.

"A dead woman. I'm guessing she suffocated when her oxygen ran out." Trigger said, reaching into the suit and pulled out the dog-tags. He also saw a notebook that was secured against her harness and he grabbed it.

"Olga Kaganovich." he said, leaving the cockpit and closed the hatch. Leaving the spacecraft, he headed to his space-fighter and settled inside the cockpit. He looked at the dogtags, cleanly preserved in the vacuum of space.

"Trigger, we should head back." Nagase said.

"No. This doesn't feel right, leaving her like this. We should take her back. You have extra room for a corpse?" Trigger asked.

"We do." Nagase said.

"Good. Help me retrieve her." he said, once again leaping towards the capsule. Nagase moved her spacecraft close to both the old and modern Yuke space-faring vessels and watched as Trigger came out of the capsule, carrying the corpse on his shoulder.

"I'm going to need a long shower after this." Trigger said, as he handed the body to Nagase, and returned to his fighter. Closing the canopy he started to read her journal; maybe it would provide some clue to her death.

"Oh my god." Trigger gasped.

"Trigger, what's wrong?" Nagase asked.

"I'll let you know. Right now, we have to head back." he said.

Trigger followed the Osean spacecraft as they approached the space elevator. Tilting his nose upward, he let the plane fall into the atmosphere, seeing the flames go past him as the heat shield made contact with the atmosphere. When the flames disappeared, Trigger pointed the nose downward and pulled back on the throttle, and released a large parachute from his plane.

The taunt cords from the chute caused the plane to corkscrew in its motion, going three times in one direction before heading in the other direction.

"Come on, damn it." Trigger growled, watching the speed indicator drop further and further. Cutting the chute, Trigger powered up the engines and headed towards Seletapura air-force base.

"Command, mission accomplished." Trigger said, before he cut the comms. Not wanting to speak to anyone, he headed to his room once he saw that the space-plane was secured.

Opening the book, he read about Olga's first and sadly last spaceflight. The beginning of the journal showed she was nervous about the flight, about having to strap herself onto a large metal tube filled with liquid nitrogen. As he read on, her writing indicated excitement about flying above the earth and seeing the many continents below.

The last bit of the journal was about the end of her flight, and the end of her life. She wrote about finding the capsule, the mangled child that was inside never to be seen again. The last few pages were haunting, as she appeared to write directly to her family even though she faced the real possibility that no-one would be reading these notes, let alone an Osean air-force pilot.

"'No-one will know.' Olga, i'll make sure people know. Starting with your family and the government of Yuktobania." Trigger said, closing the book.


End file.
